Kids These Days
Centennial High School has dropped its ban on eyebrow shaving... that's right, the kids are shaving their eyebrows. I guess there's a trend in which kids shave designs into their brows. Unfortunately, a well known East Multnomah County gang does the same, which caused a bit of confusion and concern in this particular high school. I remember back when I was in school. It was the eighties, and the more over the top you could be, the better. My high school banned things like mohawks and certain colors of hair. I thought it was silly at the time and I still do. I think blue hair in high school would have made me a better person.
Everything is Stranger in Texas
I'm off to Texas tomorrow morning to visit family and see my new niece. I regularly keep up with Texas news, but I casually read it and move on. Today I came across an unusual story... well, unusual to those of us in the North. A man in Brazoria was routinely pulled over for making an illegal u-turn. The police found a 6 foot alligator and a water moccasin in his car, both alive. The snake had already bitten the man, but that didn't keep him from driving along as if all was normal. And there's more...Read the full story here. The funniest part is the comment by the Brazoria Chief of Police, who says, "Just a typical day in Brazoria."
Software As a Mullet
While considering the fun of programming today, I came up with a new mantra: “Software development should be like a mullet - business in the front, party in the back.”
Today's biggest buzzword in the industry is “software as a service”. I propose that we toss that idea, and instead standardize on “software as a mullet”. The new approach will focus on having fun during the software lifecycle, while producing business approved results. This will be followed by books such as:
Mullet Oriented Architecture (MOA)
Mullets in the Enterprise
Mullet-oriented Design: A Practical Approach
Am I A Rockstar Software Engineer?
According to the article, Top 10 Traits of a Rockstar Software Engineer, I might be a Rockstar Software Engineer. Yay. Here's the list, with comments about myself.
1. Loves To Code (I do)
2. Gets Things Done (I mostly do)
3. Continuously Refactors Code (I do)
4. Uses Design Patterns (I sometimes do)
5. Writes Tests (I rarely do...)
6. Leverages Existing Code (I do)
7. Focuses on Usability (I do)
8. Writes Maintainable Code (I do)
9. Can Code in Any Language (I can)
10. Knows Basic Computer Science (I do)
April Fool’s Sucker
Well, I got fooled left and right yesterday! I guess I am naive...
My favorite embedded device developer, Marcin Juszkiewicz, claimed that he was moving from Poland to London for work. He said that with his new job, he could spend more time in the office and less time taking care of his child. Sounded reasonable to me. He was kidding.
I'm still not clear about this one, but seeing as it was tagged on delicious as "aprilfools", I'm guessing it wasn't real. Too bad, because I was hyped about it. Legend of Zelda Movie Trailer Debut
Probably the most unbelievable prank that I fell for was Virgle, the joint venture between Google and Virgin to send humans to Mars. Hey, you never know what Google is capable of...
And that's everything I'm willing to fess up to. Until next year.
Happy PI Day (3/14)
PI = 3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 58209 74944 59230 78164 06286 20899 86280 34825 34211 70679 82148 08651 32823 06647 09384 46095 50582 23172 53594 08128 48111 74502 84102 70193 85211 05559 64462 29489 54930 38196 44288 10975 66593 34461 28475 64823 37867 83165 27120 19091 45648 56692 34603 48610 45432 66482 13393 60726 02491 41273 72458 70066 06315 58817 48815 20920 96282 92540 91715 36436 78925 90360 01133 05305 48820 46652 13841 46951 94151 16094 33057 27036 57595 91953 09218 61173 81932 61179 31051 18548 07446 23799 62749 56735 18857 52724 89122 79381 83011 94912 98336 73362 44065 66430 ...
Mii Wedding Cake Topper
This is so excellent!
Paul Pape Designs - Mii Cake Topper
I suspect that the girl would never go for it, but I can dream.
Stop Helping the Shy
Why is it that everyone is so motivated to help out shy people? I can guarantee you that if you aren't severely shy, then you have no idea what it's like. I came across this article today: The Shy Person’s Guide to Talking to Strangers.
Okay, first of all, I barely talk to my friends, family, or the person I'm going to marry, so why would I seek out lessons on talking to strangers? Oh, there are beneficial relationships that can be formed, according to the article. Allow me to debunk them.
"Business contacts": being a shy person, I chose a profession that doesn't require making business contacts. Any sensible introvert would do the same. Intelligence and hard work go a long way on their own.
"Friendships": believe it or not, but most people don't mind being friends with a shy person. I've had plenty of friends in my lifetime, all without learning to talk to strangers. I would dare say that people who frequently talk to strangers wouldn't make good friends anyway. Analyze that.
"Mentors and teachers": I don't know what the author means by this, but I don't need them and I don't want to be them either.
"Romantic relationships": see my comment about friendships. The same applies to romantic relationships.
The author finishes up the article with:
"That’s really all there is to it. Good luck and don’t get discouraged. You have nothing to lose but your shyness!"
Good grief! Why not cut off my arms while I'm at it? Please stop trying to break us out of our "shells." We are doing fine.
Crashing Las Vegas
This is classic! It seems that the Paris hotel and casino in Las Vegas had a small technical problem with their giant display screen. Microsoft Windows. BSOD.
Crashing Las Vegas